Drive Shack Inc (DSHK)

[Enterprising Investor]

Newcastle Announces First Quarter 2016 Results (5/10/16)

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE:NCT; “Newcastle”, the “Company”) today reported the following information for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Core Earnings of $3 million, or $0.05 per basic share

• Adjusted Funds from Operations (“AFFO”) of $81 million, or $1.21 per basic share

• GAAP Income of $72 million, or $1.08 per basic share

FIRST QUARTER & SUBSEQUENT HIGHLIGHTS

• Real Estate Debt Portfolio – As of March 31, 2016, the real estate debt portfolio asset face amount was $640 million, which consisted of $277 million of non-agency assets and $363 million of agency securities, including the $19 million sale of a real estate mezzanine loan in April 2016.

During the quarter:

• The portfolio generated $11 million of net investment income, or a 16% return.

• The Company simplified the balance sheet and generated $10 million of proceeds to NCT with the sale of CDO VI Class IMM-2. The sale resulted in the deconsolidation of CDO VI, as it represented the Company’s remaining economic equity interest in the CDO, and resulted in an $82 million GAAP gain and eliminated $61 million of negative GAAP book value.

Subsequent to the quarter:

• In April 2016, the Company sold $19 million face amount of a real estate mezzanine loan at par, which generated $8 million of proceeds, and repaid $11 million of debt.

• Golf Business – As of March 31, 2016, the Company owned, leased and managed 85 golf properties across 13 states, of which 75% were located in the top 20 Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

• American Golf Performance – On a same store basis, excluding managed courses, the golf business ended the first quarter with 8,816 full golf private members, an increase of 325 members over the prior year. On a same store basis, excluding managed courses, The Players Club membership for the public courses ended the first quarter with 26,635 members, an increase of 18,163 members over the prior year. Both programs generated an additional $2 million of revenue in the quarter over the prior year.

• Golf Innovation – Continued to work with Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. (“TaylorMade”) to build out Drive Shack Holdings LLC (“Drive Shack”), an innovative global golf entertainment company. Drive Shack intends to provide an active entertainment outlet that consists of technologically enhanced golf ranges with hitting suites as well as bars and restaurant areas.

• Cash Dividends – In March, Newcastle declared a first quarter common cash dividend of $0.12 per share, or $8 million.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For additional information that management believes to be useful for investors, please refer to the presentation posted on the Investor Relations section of Newcastle’s website, www.newcastleinv.com. For consolidated investment portfolio information, please refer to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K, which are available on the Company’s website, www.newcastleinv.com.

EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL

Newcastle’s management will host a conference call on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 9:00 A.M. Eastern Time. A copy of the earnings release will be posted to the Investor Relations section of Newcastle’s website, www.newcastleinv.com.

All interested parties are welcome to participate on the live call. The conference call may be accessed by dialing 1-866-393-1506 (from within the U.S.) or 1-706-634-0623 (from outside of the U.S.) ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call; please reference “Newcastle First Quarter 2016 Earnings Call.”

A simultaneous webcast of the conference call will be available to the public on a listen-only basis at www.newcastleinv.com. Please allow extra time prior to the call to visit the website and download any necessary software required to listen to the internet broadcast.

A telephonic replay of the conference call will also be available two hours following the call’s completion through 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (from within the U.S.) or 1-404-537-3406 (from outside of the U.S.); please reference access code “1701979.”

CORE EARNINGS

Newcastle has the following primary variables that impact its operating performance: (i) the current yield earned on its investments that are not included in non-recourse financing structures (i.e., unlevered investments, including investments in equity method investees and investments subject to recourse debt), (ii) the net yield we earn from its non-recourse financing structures, (iii) the interest expense and dividends incurred under its recourse debt and preferred stock, (iv) the net operating income on its real estate and golf investments, (v) its operating expenses and (vi) its realized and unrealized gains or losses, net of related provision for income taxes, including any impairment, on its investments, derivatives and debt obligations. Core earnings is a non-GAAP measure of the operating performance of Newcastle excluding the sixth variable listed above. It also excludes depreciation and amortization charges, including the accretion of membership deposit liabilities and the impact of the application of acquisition accounting, acquisition and spin-off related expenses and restructuring expenses. Core earnings is used by management to gauge the current performance of Newcastle without taking into account gains and losses, net of related provision for income taxes, which, although they represent a part of our recurring operations, are subject to significant variability and are only a potential indicator of future economic performance. It is the judgment of management that depreciation and amortization charges are not indicative of operating performance and that acquisition and spin-off related expenses are not part of our core operations. Management believes that the exclusion from core earnings of the items specified above allows investors and analysts to readily identify the operating performance of the assets that form the core of our activity, assists in comparing the core operating results between periods, and enables investors to evaluate our current performance using the same measure that management uses to operate the business, which is among the factors considered when determining the amount of distributions to our stockholders.

Core earnings does not represent cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP and therefore should not be considered an alternative to net income as an indicator of our operating performance or as an alternative to cash flow as a measure of our liquidity, and is not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash needs. For a further description of the differences between cash flows provided by operations and net income, see “– Liquidity and Capital Resources” in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K, which are available on the Company’s website, www.newcastleinv.com. Our calculation of core earnings may be different from the calculation used by other companies and, therefore, comparability may be limited.

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ADJUSTED FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS

The Company defines Adjusted Funds from Operations as net income (loss) available for common stockholders plus depreciation and amortization including the accretion of the membership liabilities and the amortization of favorable or unfavorable leasehold intangibles. The Company believes AFFO provides useful information to investors regarding the performance of the Company, because it provides a measure of operating performance without regard to depreciation and amortization, which reduce the value of real estate assets over time even though actual real estate values may fluctuate with market conditions. AFFO does not represent cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP and therefore should not be considered an alternative to net income (loss) as an indicator of our operating performance or as an alternative to cash flow as a measure of our liquidity, and it is not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash needs. Our calculation of AFFO may be different from the calculation used by other companies and, therefore, comparability may be limited. The Company’s definition of AFFO differs from the definition of FFO established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”), which defines FFO as net income (or loss) (computed in accordance with GAAP) excluding losses or gains from sales of depreciable property, impairment of depreciable real estate, real estate-related depreciation and amortization and the portion of such items related to unconsolidated affiliates.

ABOUT NEWCASTLE

Newcastle focuses on investing in, and actively managing, real estate related assets. Newcastle conducts its operations to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. Newcastle is managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, a global investment management firm.

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